gaussfandomcom-20200214-history
Cauldarions
The Cauldarions are the most physically impressive race in the Gauss Dominion, despite having the most similar DNA to Farrians; who were (unaugmented), arguably the least physically impressive race; Due to mysterious circumstances (very refined convergent evolution, the influence of a higher power or precursor race.) The Cauldarion home world was an extremely harsh and unforgiving planet, such that it’s hard to fathom how life, much less civilization would come to be there. Biology Enhanced Physique Cauldarions are by far the strongest of any race in the GD, such that even relatively mediocre Cauldarions can outclass peak members of other member races. Cauldarions possess genetics and hormones that caused them to innately develop their large muscles in response to their homeworld’s gravity. Female Cauldarions can nominally lift with both arms 2-3 tons while males can lift 4-5 tons. These muscles were not only larger but strounger stronger pound-for-pound than those of any other race. Cauldarion Brain The Cauldarions featured an alter brain structure. The Hippocampus (Memory storing part of the brain) is on the outermost layer, allowing it to expand with time. Because Cauldarions had indefinite lifespans, some could carry with them many centuries of memories and needed to have the part of their brain responsible for such be able to readily expand. This would not result in Cauldarions with oversized heads as even many millennia of memory accumulation would only result in this layer expanding by a couple millimeters, if even that. However memories developing in this part of the brain is less efficient thus making Cauldarions slow learners with regard to the other races which may be why the “dumb brute” stereotype is so often perpetuated surrounding their culture. Cauldarions were occasionally prone to fits of berserker rage when in battle, which were triggered when hormones were released from glands in their brain. Their brains ware protected by an exceptionally thick and strong skull covered in bony plates. Dermal Lipid Armor Although Cauldarion’s physical strength is impressive it was their obscene resilience that made them such a force in a fight. Their first line of defense past the skin was the Lipid barrier. This barrier was made of specialized fat cells which are very fibrous in nature; as strong as kevlar. These cells formed a layer around a centimeter thick completely encasing Cauldarions in a protective jacket of armor. Resistant to blunt impacts, cuts and piercing attacks this makes them able to easily absorb damage that would injure or cripple members of other species. These cells could also act as a sacrificial layer of cells to absorb and neutralize toxins and diseases. When in berserker rage the lipid cells will tighten, shrinking the thickness barrier but increasing its strength. This would normally make it very difficult for the Cauldarion to move, but in berserker rage, with their adrenaline flowing their skeletal muscles would increase in strength, cancelling out this effect and allowing them to move as they would normally. The Lipid barrier is generally thicker on females making them more durable than males. Since the barrier would become less useful if it became too thick due to diminishing returns as a certain point, Cauldarions will begin to accumulate body fat in a way similar to other species. Terronium Bones Cauldarions have Terronium micro-crystals in their bones. This gave them extreme strength and density. Pure terronium was toxic to most species but relatively inert to Cauldarion biology. Their bones are also very thick with respect to their anatomy and nigh-impossible to break. The presence of the Terronium in their bones gives them a dark grayish-brown color. Redundant Organs Cauldarions have three hearts (one in the center of the chest and two near each shoulder.) Four lungs and two stomachs. Each heart has its own circulatory system meaning that there were three major arteries connecting each part of the body with fresh blood and three major veins taking away used blood. The nervous system, aside from the brain, was also triply-redundant with three spinal columns running in parallel and extremely strong fibrous nerves.. Quick Clotting Blood Cauldarion blood vessel walls contain chemicals in their walls which would trigger the blood to start clotting almost immediately upon receiving a wound. Even arterial bleeding would stop in mere seconds. Cellular Regeneration The Caudlarion’s most impressive feat was their biology which allowed them to make a full recovery from any non-fatal injury. Their DNA would not degrade with age as such they were granted effective immortality from biological age. This also made them able to regrow lost limbs, senses and organs. Even from brain damage they could fully recover their lives, albeit not their memories which would be lost upon receiving the brain damage. The regeneration will take place in two phases. In the first phase, happening over the course of a few minutes, the body would put all available biological energy and reserve cells into repairing the body into a functional state; one in where the Cauldarion will stabilize continue to live in spite of their wounds. (This would entail repairing damage to vital organs such as the brain, nervous system) as well as purging any toxins, viruses, parasites, foreign or diseases. This first phase is so active and rapid that it can prevent assimilation. Even the incredibly pervasive Kathidium could be held at bay by a Cauldarion’s regenerative abilities for a short time. The second phase involves the organs or body parts actually regrowing. This phase would happen much more slowly, over the course of weeks or months depending upon the extent of the damage. Most likely the Cauldarion will be bed ridden or at least in a weakened state depending upon the damage, and slowly regain functionality. Supplementary food, water and bedrest would be required to ensure the healing occurred in a timely manner. Six-digit appendages Cauldarions have six-fingered hands and six toed feet. Downsides Cauldarion biology is fairly overpowered but it did come with some downsides. For on their regenerative biology (rather painfully) rejected any form of implants or cybernetic augmentation. If one attempts to implant any form of cybernetics into their body it will slowly be forced out of the body and skin until it eventually falls out. Their large and strong bodies also required proportionally more food; requiring 12,000 to 15,000 dietary calories daily. They were slow learners due to their modified brain structure and it took them around 35 standard galactic years to reach full maturity, and around as long to learn all the basic skills they would require, as Cauldarions were notorious for having inaccurate or forgetful long-term memories. They had the lowest birth rate in the Dominion with their pregnancies taking around two standard galactic years. Cauldarions also have notably slower reaction times than most other races. Food Sources The Cauldarions are mostly herbivorous by nature, usually only consuming meat during times of celebration. Because their bodies could process (and actually required for proper bone growth) Terronium, a material that is toxic to other races some of their traditional foods contained Terronium and were not edible to most other races. Though in modern times, most Cauldarions would simply take Terronium suppliments some would consume the conventional food sources. Among the most common are Goag Bulbs. These brown gourd-like plants grew on stalks native to their homeworld. When ground into a powder and baked they made biscuits which could then be seasoned to assume a wide variety of flavors and nutritional contents, and these did not contain dangerous concentrations of Terronium and thus are accessible to the wider dominion as a trade good and food source. Culture Cauldarion culture is highly focused around ethics of hard work and honor. Although exacting customs and worldview varied considerably amongst the various clans, these themes tended to be more central than any others. Most Cauldarions to varying degrees disliked machines, particularly robots as they saw them as something which would cause a being to become lazy and weak. They would do work that would be better done by machines as they believed hard physical work and dedication made one truly strong. Overall their culture is considered to be somewhat ‘rough and rowdy’ with respect to the other cultures in the Dominion, enjoying fairly violent and aggressive sports and methods of celebration, though most of the truly savage traditions were relegated to less prominent clans or lost during their integration with the GD. Cauldarions enjoyed making full use of their physical bodies and often did work that could be done better by machines simply because they enjoyed it. Cauldarions will be tattooed for various deeds, both good and bad. Good deeds can range from anything from donating money to a charitable cause to being a teacher to a class of younglings in school, to much grander deeds such as becoming the head of a clan or fighting as a war hero. Bad marking would be forcibly given to criminals (sometimes the only punishment, for minor or moderate crimes, as seeing the marking in a visible place such as the hand or face was enough to inform others of what they had done and ring shame and scorn upon the individual.) Receiving one’s first tattoo as a child or teenager would always be seen as a significant coming-of-age moment for that child. Due to their regenerative biologies their skin would slowly reject the ink and the markings would fade, meaning to represent how deeds, both good and bad would be dulled away and eventually forgotten by the passage of time and encouraged Cauldarions to continue to pursue new good deeds. Note that tattooing oneself was considered highly dishonorable, the markings had to be received by another, and would be seen as particularly honorable if awarded by a senior patriarch. Most every house did share one trait; the production of Cauldarion Knights. These Knights were warrior Cauldarions who have dedicated their lives to combat. They would be trained in the art of Tabuk Yah and Garuk Yah, Cauldarion Martial Arts. The former (Tabuk Yah) resembles Taekwondo and was focused mostly around fast, fluid kicks but did invest studies into hand motions, mostly for defender. Garuk Yah focuses more on hand-to-hand combat with a basic stance set like that of boxing, focusing on defending the face and body with the hands and throwing sets of fast powerful punches, but would also spend a fair amount of time training in grappling maneuvers. Cauldarion knights would forge or assemble (even in modern times) large single bladed axes; a traditionally significant weapon to the Cauldarion culture, though archery was also significant. Only male Cauldarions could train to become Knights, with very rare exceptions. Knights are virtuous yet not unyielding. Most Cauldarions believed that surrendering to an opponent was dishonorable unless that opponent had proven themselves worthy of surrender. They were used to settle political disputes between families. clans and houses through a ritual duel. In this duel a knight would be selected from the opposing sides to perform a ceremonial duel or Yah Habanbaraka Though using live weapons (often axes or bows) it rarely resulted in death due to the Cauldarion’s durability. During the duel the Cauldarion Knights would verbally debate the dispute while fighting. The physical fight was meant to determine who felt more strongly about the issue and therefore who was in the right. When the verdict was reached (one yielded to the other’s physical strength or verbal debate, or went unconscious.) The verdict would be reached and unless given extenuating circumstances, the losing family would be forced to abide to the whims of the winning family on that issue, simply on honor. Another central focus of their culture is the idea of Koeb Ga, Koeb Mae, which translates from their native tongue to Universe Creates, Universe Destroys. This was meant to symbolize the perpetual destruction and construction present in the universe and was a major focus of their culture that was almost universal amongst the houses. In coming to an understanding of it one recognized that everything is destroyed and reborn as something else. Role in the Dominion Cauldarions are known in the Dominion for three things. Building things, taking things apart, and taking things apart that don’t want to be taken apart. Because of their innate desire to adhere to the idea of Koeb Ga and Koeb Mae many became either soldiers or construction and demolition workers. The former being an obvious choice given the Cauldarion’s physicality. Knights and others seeking the valiant journey of Koeb Mae would join the Dominion Military. Though female Cauldarions were not eligible to become knights, they would still welcomed with open arms into other branches of the Dominion Military. They also frequently also invested in mining construction duties. Cauldarions took great satisfaction in completing Koeb Ga, and building new cities and infrastructure. They could easily perform the manual labor of several men and their incredibly durable physiology made them suitable for dangerous construction jobs. There are mixed feelings about automated construction with some Cauldarions working alongside constructor bots, gleefully doing the more intricate tasks that dumb AI cannot not manage while others outright hated these machines taking their sacred work and making it their own. Cauldarions are the least populated of the five major member races. This is partially due to an unusual phenomenon that began to take hold shortly after the formation of the Dominion in where fewer females began being birthed, dropping to about 1 female for every 10 males in modern times, slowing their population increase during times of prosperity to prevent the subsequent collapse that would occur in a less advanced society. It is believed by many scientists this might be an innate biological response programmed into Cauldarions such that when ample numbers of them accumulate the birth rate of females tapers off to prevent overpopulation, due to them being biologically immortal. Cauldarion Houses''' ' Cauldarions were organized into houses. These were large political, religious, economic and military groupings which each created a different code of honor and valued different aspects of Cauldarion society. The houses could trace their origin back to the feudal states and separate nations the Cauldarions lived in prior during the Pre Space Era and early years of the Go'shii Ascension era. The houses still, to a degree represented an independent political and economic body. This meant unlike most races of the Dominion which had fully unified their world and maintained no obvious intraspecies political boundries, the Cauldarions retained them. Houses were typically led by a Patriarch from a royal or high ranking family, who would have elite knights service him and fight in Yah Habanbaraka when coming into conflict with other houses. Technically any family in the house could, holding a knight, could use their knight to challenge the royal family for the position of leadership, however they would then be forced to fight some of the strongest knights in the house to claim the position and have the Patriarch's bias against the challenger when in the arena, meaning though lesser noble and peasant families would try this frequently to challenge a political ideology or house patriarch but not get far. House Vondar '''Translation:' House of Valor Distinctive Physical Elements: Vondar uses Trapezoid shaped axe blades for their knights. Vondar Cauldarions often have heavy set builds even for Cauldarions; with a larger-than-average portion of the males having large “beer guts”. This wasn’t due to a lack of fitness but was simply a genetic difference that resulted in a different body shape and more body fat which was common in their family’s lineage. Distinctive Beliefs: House Vondar were something of the generic and moderate Cauldarion house, mostly holding to the traditional values which have been discussed above. Typically when the average non-cauldarion citizen of the dominion would think of what a Cauldarion might say or do, they were often thinking of one of house Vondar, who were staunch believers in Koeb Mae, Koeb Ga. However because they were so large there were several sub-cultures and groups within present house Vondar. There was a quite sizable population interested in various competitive sports, from competitive dueling (using wooden axes); to racing of large, custom built motorcycle like contraptions through rugged desert terrain of their home planet, to various ball games played and watched by both men and women in their down time. Pretty much every Vondar Cauldarion (especially the more youthful ones) would prove their worth and hone their bodies and minds by being involved in one of these sports, even if they did not choose or desire to become a knight. They produced the most knights, due to their size and were responsible for pretty sizable contributions to the Dominion’s collection of Cauldarion knights. The House had considerable political power within the Cauldarion nation and the head of house Vondar was elected to represent the Cauldarion sector on the high council. However one could challenge his position of leadership. However the house of Vondar would not be so easily unseated as the sheer number of quality knights made it easy for them to maintain their position of power. House Vondar did have a sizable ego and was known to bully smaller houses into staying in line, and could be slightly Cauldarion-centric viewpoints when seated on the high council. Though many of the houses agreed with aspects of their practice, and could(if only begrudingly agree) that it was best if a more radical house was not in place on the council. House Taronogri Translation: House of the Stormfront Distintive Physical Traits: Stormfront Cauldarions are generally taller and leaner-looking than those of other houses. Red or violet colorations of what skin would normally be a dark blue or gray color also allowed them to stand out in a crowd. Members of house Tarongori make use of rectangular axe blades and would sometimes fight with a large rectangular butcher’s-cleaver like dagger in conjunction with their axe. They were also a house noted to be particularly versed in archery. Distinctive Beliefs: For most of history, house Tarongori was a relatively small and unnoticed house; one of the hundreds of smaller, unnoticed and relatively unknown to the wider public Cauldarion houses. They were a humble house with a more relaxed stance on Cauldarion beliefs in some places, believing it was important that Cauldarion beliefs remained fluid and continue to change as the universe did. They are one of the kindest, generous and most forgiving houses, and lack almost any trace of xenophobia. Families living under house Stormfront were so open to the idea of aliens that they allowed members of other species to be adopted children of their wives. (So long as the wives were also committed to raising Cauldarion children.) They have relaxed stances on who their wives married so long as they bore children, and even allowed for the occasional homosexual or interspecies marriage. (Though this only applied to male Cauldarions who were allowed to marry out-of-species. Females were too valuable and needed to bear young to ensure continuity and expansion of the species.) However this was because they held firm to the belief that there would be a very sharp divide between their warriors and the caretakers. Their warriors would be some of the most brutally trained and well honed. Though absolutely minuscule in the number of knights they produced, Stormfront knights were magnificent fighters which often did not get the respect they deserved, due to them being very humble by choice with regards to their skill and win-loss ratio. House Tarongori lived by a phrase that “Might can be acquired in many illegitimate ways, but strength can only be acquired through hard work.” House Kepkipderan Translation: “House of the Great Unsolvable Question” Distintive Physical Traits: Kepkipderan members would often be seen wearing Go’shii silk in bright colors rather than traditional Cauldarion clothing and armor. This absolutely infuriated members of other houses, even house Stormfront, and would proudly display Go’shii artifacts, build hybridized Go’shii-Cauldarion architecture and vehicles. Distinctive Beliefs: House Kepkipderan isn’t a house that has existed since ancient times, only arising some time after the Go’shii introduced their religious and spiritual beliefs in Mazungaten to the Cauldarions, the house formed when low-ranking families in several other houses abandoned their former houses to form house Kepkipderan. They are definitely the most controversial house. The Go’shii are not particularly fond of them as they claim that (among more minor instances of appropriation and simplification of their religion) Believe that certain members of their house are able to connect their soul to Mazungaten by drinking a concoction of drugs which puts them into a trance-like sleep so deep they fall near death and their soul temporarily returns to Mazungaten, in where they can speak to the dead and god himself. (This of course is not possible in Go’shii tradition and violates the sacred nature of Mazungaten to even proclaim that you could do such a thing.) The other Cauldarion houses aren’t particular fans of this house either. They produce low quality knights, something that's seen as dishonorable and have disbanded many Cauldarion traditions in favor of appropriating Go’shii ones, preaching for galactic peace and wearing Go’shii clothing and eating their foods. (Essentially you have to imagine the Go’shii are the Japanese, house Kepkipderan are like ultimate weeaboos. They parody the culture and want to portray the aspects of it they enjoy with out fully grasping how the culture works and what its core beliefs are. Unknowingly creating a one-dimensional parody of the culture they are whole-heartedly attempting to honor.) House Sol Gragnus Translation: “House of Sacred Blood” Distintive Physical Traits: Slightly darker skin than the other houses, some are born orange or yellow sclera rather than green; or would have this trait develop in them over their lifetime. House Gragnus ritualistically ate more foods with high concentrations of Terronium in them to cause this variation in coloration. Gragnus house bearers use unique tri-bladed claw axes in combat. These axes bear a unique feature; an inner shaft which slid up and down inside the main handle. At the bladed end of the handle the blade was bracketed onto a hingepin with a row of gear teeth on the inner shaft and a half-gear on the base of the blade. This allows the user of the weapon to slide the inner shaft up and down to open and close the claw. This claw could be used to crush limbs in sharp teeth or trap another’s weapon in melee; and made their axes more intimidating than those of other houses. For extra intimidation factor in battle; or during rituals, a torch or gas flame jet would be added to the center of the claw. If the latter was used, it could spray fire out a short distance. Distinctive Beliefs: House Gragnus is one of the oldest and most traditionalist Cauldarion houses, which stuck to many of their most ancient traditions which often appeared taboo in modern times. They were most known for branding their members with a heated needle rather than tattooing them in the traditional way. This was a much more painful process than normally tattooing their members, but the marks made would last much longer. The training they provided for knights was absolutely brutal, sometimes involving the master beating or tormenting the apprentice until they fought back or surrendered, or forcing them to fight while subject to the effects of poisons of hallucinogenic drugs. Sometimes masters would put their apprentices on a diet, or have them fast for lengths of time causing their dermal fat layer to shrink away making them more susceptible to pain and injury in order to focus their training and make them less sloppy when in combat. This honed the body and mind to an immaculate degree but was questionably efficient and effective. Their performance in duels was sometimes brought into question as they were known to make use of dirty fighting techniques, holding the belief that any option, no matter how dirty or cruel should be taken in combat. All male members of house Gragnus are expected to become knights, even if they chose to pursue an additional career they were expected to be knights in addition to that. House Gragnus held firm to the Cauldarion’s beliefs in hard work and dedication to a degree that bordered on insanity, and they would often commit themselves to difficult or frustrating tasks only to prove that they could complete them and succeed which (while showing a good work ethic.) usually made them less productive than other houses due to their inefficient ways of doing things. They also added an additional step into their beliefs in hard work; believing that one should build their motivation around emotions, and would teach any members of other houses how to aim and focus their emotions to make themselves more dedicated and hardworking. House Gragnus is not without their issues; the main one being their fanatical hatred of Katharians. It was a member of house Gragnus which was ‘Unjustly’ killed during the first contact war between the Katharians and Cauldarions and their house which committed their knights and soldiers to the most costly and devastating battles of the multi-century long war. Katharians who harbor sentiment against Cauldarions often draw up the stereotype of house Gragnus Cauldarions; brutal red-eyed, dark skinned beings of murder and anger wielding tri bladed axes. While house Gragnus Cauldarions view the Katharians as weak, dishonorable and worthy of nothing less than death. Even in the progressive and modern Dominion in where interspecies cooperation is the norm; the tension and divide between the Cauldarions of House Gragnus and the Katharian people remains strong. House Humadari Translation: “House of the Motherbeast” Distinctive Physical Traits: Humadari are distinctive in that they would sometimes carry large two handed swords or spears as opposed rather than traditional Cauldarion axes, and preferred very elaborate oriental designs in their clothing, armor, weapons and other trade goods. They were also represented by a matriarch of the house. Distinctive Beliefs: House Humadari held a very controversial belief; that Cauldarions should embrace equal gender power while maintaining gender roles. Other houses viewed them from points ranging from begrudging respect to outright disgust with their beliefs. The houses that disagreed often called them Katharian sympathizers (as Katharian culture was known to be matriarchal as well.) and would draw this connection. The house had both male and female knights and was the only house that would train female knights for itself; breaking tradition. Granted the female knights were often trained in secret by other female knights though their training would occasionally be supplemented by outsiders from other houses who agreed to their beliefs (or were bribed, blackmailed or tricked into relaying combat knowledge.) The houses’s stance was actually for gender equality in spite of almost always having a female head-of-house. Sometimes when a suitable male head-of-house was chosen, his wife (if he had one) would be named the head of house while the male made or contributed to the decisions in private and his wife agreed to act as a trusted public figurehead. This would be done solely to make a statement to the other houses and assert beliefs. This belief stemmed from the idea that their women were extremely important to the Cauldarion race; particularly with their declining birth-rate and shrinking population, as such this belief actually acquired the attention of a fair few clans and caused their house to become large and influential enough to rise to prominence. Aside from that, and being particularly versed in raising livestock and managing animals of various types this house held fairly stereotypical beliefs for Cauldarions. House Tek’tikdera as their sigil, meant to represent their dedication to forging, industry and technology and reinforcing the houses' more scientific background.]] Translation: “House of the Mighty Forge” Distinctive Physical Traits: Tek’tikdera is distinctive for their highly detailed and ornate axes. Even low-level knights would forge highly detailed and artistic blades. Their axes often had a dual functionality of having a hard light blade projector built into the traditional metal blade. This would be used in actual combat while the hard light portion of the blade would be concealed during an honorary duel. Members of house Tek’tikdera will sometimes carry hammers instead of axes. The Hammer was a highly significant and symbolic tool in their houses’ culture as it was something which could be used to both create and destroy. Members of the house often had distinctive and decorative clothing or armor and, would (more often than members of most other houses) carry firearms. Distinctive Beliefs: House Tek’tikdera are by far the most technologically keen house of the major Cauldarion houses, so much so that they used machines and technology far more than other houses and employed robotics to do a lot of their more menial jobs, and the use of exo-suits or power armor to assist in manual labor. Their teaching methods produced the smartest Cauldarions and had developed teaching methods which worked to midigate the Cauldarion’s relatively poor ability to learn and retain knowledge. House Tek’tikdera does not produce many knights, but those they did were usually seen by other houses to be of good quality and moral standing. Because they were by far the most scholarly of the houses they knew how to train smarter, not harder and achieve the same result in their physicality and combat prowess with far less work and time investment. In an all out war with another faction or house, the members of Tek’tikdera would be more versed in tactics and the big-picture of warfare to outsmart another house tactically. However knighthood did not interest many members of Tek’tikdera instead focusing on being a highly industrious house in where members focused a lot on advancement of technology. Going to university, developing, inventing, or maintaining technology are seen as just as honorable as fighting in their eyes. Tek’tikdera produced many a mining and construction entrepreneur due to their focus on intelligence and ran a number of large mining, shipwrighting and construction firms. Running these larger companies was seen as extremely honorable (as running a large corporation under the dominion’s crippling anti-capitalist, almost socialist economic structure was a formidable challenge, one which they saw the undertaking of as honorable and proving of ones’ strength.) But the intelligent members of Tek’tikdera often did fairly well for themselves and made Tek’tikdera the wealthiest Cauldarion house by some margin. They had the experience to do so as many members of Tek’tikdera had descendants who were shipwrights and builders. The house was also known to encourage exploration of the arts and individuality. Individuals would be taught to craft decorative clothing, tools and objects which would be both aesthetically pleasing and functional, and more so than other houses individuals could pursue whatever career they wanted given they would commit to the proper education and prove their commitment in success of education first. Tek’tikdera took great pride in outsmarting members of other species and disproving the “dumb brute” stereotype assigned to so many Cauldarions, so much so that they acquired a superiority complex, leading some wealthy individuals and clan leaders in their ranks becoming very snobby, self-centric, and corrupt. Their house was one of the few to be accepting of the radical gender equality on display in house Humadari and often came to their defense when they were challenged by the other houses for their views. Many houses were secretly terrified of Tek’tikdera due to their wealth and economic power, and how much technology and industry they possessed. Houses like Vondar and Sol Gragnus harboured sentiment as this house believing that they violated some Cauldarion traditions, though they were secretly scared of Tek’tikdera surplanting them in political power, as they had also done so with economic power. Category:Aliens